Organic Cotton: A Brief History

Cotton is the world's most important fiber crop and one the world's most important cash crops. It is also one of the most intensively sprayed field crops in the world. In the United States, according to the Department of Agriculture, more than 53 million pounds of pesticides and 1.6 billion pounds of synthetic fertilizers were applied to cotton fields in 1996. In California, cotton production ranks second for the total amount of pesticides used.

Organic cotton is grown without any of the chemicals used in the standard agricultural process. Organic farmers apply the agricultural practices of soil building with cover crops and composting, crop rotation and safe and effective pest and disease control. Weed management means hoeing by hand; and instead of defoliants, organic framers rely upon a hard freeze to defoliate the cotton.

Organic framers are a model of sustainable commerceone that gives back to the planet as much as it takes out.

When we make a decision to purchase organic products, we are making a difference in how farmers are farming and we are engaging in an environmental and social partnership that sustains our planet.

Why Organic Cotton?
The concern for a life devoid of the use of extremely harmful toxic chemicals, the need for an eco-friendly industrial and agricultural culture and an increasing awareness of depleting natural resources and the consequences therein-these are factors which are shaping the life styles of people world wide. It is in this context that the relevance of organic cotton becomes important.

Organic cotton is grown and processed without toxic chemicals that can be absorbed easily when in contact with the user's skin. Pesticides, fertilizers and chemicals used to grow and process conventional cotton fabrics may go directly to the user’s blood stream, which consequently affects the body's organs and tissues.

Moreover, the naturally soft organic cotton fabric is a lot more comfortable to use and is available at competitive prices.

Take a look at some hard facts given below:

Most of the chemicals used in conventional farming were first developed for warfare!

An estimated 25 million people worldwide are poisoned by pesticides every year!

25% of the pesticides and fertilizers used in the world are sprayed in conventional cotton crops even though these crops occupy just 3% of the world’s farmland.

Over 0.75kgs of toxic chemicals are used to grow the cotton needed for a conventional cotton sheet set! About 0.5kgs to make a T-shirt and a pair of jeans!

Some of these chemicals and pesticides are among those classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.